Obama, ISIS, and the war of Ideas by Adrian Brooks

I love Obama but I think he's wrong when he says that the way to defeat ISIS is through "ideology." It's self-evident that ISIS members are the worst Muslims imaginable. Still, it is a mistake to imagine that they can be reasoned out of their beliefs or that their barbarism is something Western problem-solving can amend.

The Shia Sunni split in Islam dates to the 7th century. That schism is an internal matter. Each side claims the sacred mantle of the Prophet. Each bases its actions on its interpretation of the Koran. Given the contorted history following the end of the Ottoman Empire in WW1, and the meddling of the colonial powers, a tragic choreography is playing out.

I'm not claiming to have any answers. But ideologues who behead women or sell them as slaves or "wives" to their own troops won't substitute anything for their belief system or values. Waging holy war- Jihad, is seen as a sacred duty for 'the Faithful,' and, whatever we may think, the people in ISIS are, indeed, acting in accordance with their interpretation of what their religion requires. As such, while Obama's maturity is commendable, he's wrong about seeing this as a war of ideas. After all, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

"What Evan Wolfson and Marriage Equality Have Done For the People Who Despise Them"

At a moment when Marriage Equality has become national law, albeit by the slimmest of margins, (and, thank you Justice Kennedy),  LGBTQI folk and our allies would be moronic not to realize how harrowing this decision is for millions who don't share our belief in what is now deemed to be a Constitutionally guaranteed right. Revolted by their visualizations of what same-sex unions mean,
and haunted by unreal notions, including that we will soon agitate for the freedom to marry dogs, they spin their wheels in an effort to comprehend what has happened to a country they thought they understood as one explicitly defined by the Bible.

In fact, what "the father of marriage equality" Evan Wolfson and his colleague, Mark Solomon, (among others who worked at Freedom to Marry) have done is to make the nation stronger. Though our adversaries don't yet realize it, this transformation of consciousness will be perceived much in the same light as the 1919 law granting women the right to vote. Or the momentous Civil Rights- and Voting Rights- legislation, which LBJ passed, thereby enfranchising African Americans. Both advances were epochal; both had been met with stout resistance; in both cases,  the losing side bewailed the future of the United States, as previously received.

As previously received....

Therein lies their fallacy and the same blunder which opponents of Marriage Equality make today. For in these movements towards "a more perfect union" postulated by the Constitution, the Republic and its people make actual progress. In the process, of course, old givens are recycled; that which was known- a received wisdom, oftentimes never questioned- are subjected to new inquiry. It is the never-ending quality of regeneration at the heart of the American Experiment: our willingness to start over, to cast aside the unworthy or the unworkable and put our shoulders to the wheel in the service of a finer and more compassionate Whole. And this is the very essence of healthy democracy. 

One side doesn't have to degrade or shame the other for being tardy. As Lao Tze wrote 2500 years ago, "If one leads, another must follow."  It is the law of Nature; it's also human nature- to grow and stretch, expand and put aside the archaic in favor of what meets the reality of the Present.

This is where we are as a People: in the Present.

The gift which Evan Wolfson, Mark Solomon and their colleagues at Freedom to Marry bestowed upon the nation is to help harness a huge and still-expanding recognition of humanness. And human diversity. In its way, it is as stunning an achievement as the Emancipation Proclamation or the Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education. As a civil people, we have the right to expect leaders to lead; legislators to legislate; and courts to rule. This is the usually difficult, oftentimes infuriating, way in which our system plays out. That some will bridle is to be expected. But, in due course, they certainly will come to appreciate that what makes us truly strong isn't our weaponry. Our power- true power- lies in our character. Some may call it virtue. I do. But in leading us to this wider embrace of our own citizens, irrespective of superficial differences, the patriots who ushered this issue forward brought us into the moment, reminded us of whom, and what, we are and renewed our collective sense of Self.

They are heroes.

Author Adrian Brooks, "Flights of Angels", and "The Right Side of History", book review by Amos Lassen

A lovely review by Amos Lassen, who writes the following:

"With his wonderful prose and writing style, Brooks takes us on an exploration of our history and we go back Edwardian America and to the beginning of the struggle for gay rights in America. Once again, we see how our history is just part of the larger history of civil rights and activism. I first met Adrian Brooks via his book “Flight of Angels” several years ago and I remember being awed by his prose. I am even more awed by this book because it is our story and we are all a part of it. This is a fascinating read that you will go back to time and time again."

Craig Makler... since 1973

Since 1973, writer Adrian Brooks- born Craig Makler in Philadelphia in 1947, has been noteworthy in LGBT culture. From 1966-1972, he volunteered for Martin Luther King; attended the international Quaker school- Friends World Institute; and was in SOHO in NYC, where he knew Andy Warhol. From 1973-1980, Brooks was a poet, novelist and performer/script-writer for San Francisco's iconic free theater, the "Angels of Light", in addition to being a non-fiction writer, a spiritual teacher, activist for Human Rights and a world traveler.

One review of Brooks' theater memoir of his years in the Angels of Light- FLIGHTS OF ANGELS, is on Google. The article to which that (anonymous) reviewer refers- the piece written by John Karr, the porno film critic for San Francisco's "Bay Area Reporter"- can also be Googled. Still more reviews can be found on amazon, in addition to other reviews and Brooks' other published works.

Brooks' most recent book is THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism.  Published in June 2015 by Cleis Press, it includes a Foreword by Jonathan Katz- formerly the Head of Gay Studies at Yale and features contributions from: Judy Shepard, Barney Frank, Evan Wolfson, Charlotte Bunch, Rita Mae Brown, Julie Rhoad (Director of the Names Project); James Gilliam (California Head of the ACLU), and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, one of the transgender heroines of Stonewall, recently honored at the White House with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Adrian Brooks, Author list: THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY

The lineup of the new anthology in THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY- the past 100 year struggle of LGBTQI activists for Human Rights, just published by Cleis is extraordinary. See for yourself.

The Foreword is by Jonathan Katz, former Head of Gay Studies at Yale. The book itself is dedicated to: Bayard Rustin and Josephine Baker. The contributors, supporters, or contributing voices include (in order of appearance): Adrian Brooks, Hayden L. Mora, Eric A. Gordon, Patricia Nell Warren, Anahi Russo Garrido, Charlotte Bunch, Victoria A. Brownworth, Neeli Cherkovski, John d'Emilio, Jean-Claude Baker, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Paul Gabriel, Jeanne Cordova, Max Wolf Valerio, Jack C. Jackson Jr., Merle Woo, Julie Rohoad, Matt Ebert, Tiger Devore, Barney Frank, Brenda Knight, Sultan Shakir, James Gilliam, Evan Wolfson, Angela Dallara, Rita Mae Brown, Mark Segal, Father Daniel Berrigan, David Mixner.

Author Adrian Brooks and "Foreword This Week"

I had the pleasure of doing an interview with Howard Loxy for Foreword This Week. We spoke about my new anthology from Cleis Press: THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY. It includes many of the most out front LGBTQI leaders in the US as contributors, people such as: Barney Frank, Evan Wolfson, Charlotte Bunch, Miss Major Griffin-gracy, Rita Mae Brown, Judy Shephard and has a beautiful foreword by Jonathan Katz, former Head of Gay Studies at Yale. The essential theme is that LGBT people have always been in the forefront of the struggle for Human Rights in this nation and, as such, are true to its founding principles. Beyond the upcoming decision by the Supreme Court on marriage equality, there remain other, vital issues to be addressed: job security and bullying, for example. I'm pleased to have had the chance to speak with Howard Loxy and say that the interview is now online.

Adrian Brooks, Author, and Edie Windsor... Heroine

I'm thrilled to say that Edie Windsor- the heroine who pursued her case of marriage equality to the Supreme Court (and won), has invited me and my partner to be her guests in New York. I can't wait! I asked Edie if she'd like to do an event organized to celebrate THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY- my LGBTQI anthology. An activist friend- Tami Gold, the well known filmmaker has offered to set up a reading. Tami and I went to the same school in the 1960s: Friends World Institute- a Quaker school which became a college- was set up to create social revolutionaries.  It looks like it did a good job!

Author interview with The Matthew Shepard Foundation

Earlier this morning, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Greg Miraglia, one of the Directors of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. This was in conjunction with THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY, my newly released anthology, published by Cleis Press. The book contains my interview with Matthew's mother, Judy Shepard, and the interview with Greg relates to how we can draw attention to- and, hopefully, prevent- the appalling rate of LGBT teen suicide in this country.

The final edited interview will be about 25 minutes.  It will air on June 28 at 8PM on KRCB Radio.  Locally (which means the Bay Area), it’s at 91.1 and 90.9FM and streams worldwide at outbeatnews.com and krcb.org.   It will be available on-demand starting at 9PM that same day on outbeatnews.com and outbeatnews on iTunes.

Thank you.

Integrating the Past with Now

With my anthology due out in June, it's time for a proud announcement: I was born in 1947 to a family that was prominent in the Art World, and in Society. The Philadelphia Maklers are easily Googled.   My birth name- Craig Welsh Makler- was one, which opened doors "in all the right places" but, in 1973, when I realized that I was a creative artist, I wanted to be sure I wasn't given special treatment on the basis of where I came from. So I took other family names, rearranged them, and- voila!- Adrian Brooks was born. This wasn't a secret, just my way of trying to ensure that anything I earned, I earned fair and square. And if I failed, okay, I'd fail "on my own merit."

From the early 70s on, I had some successes as a published poet, performer and writer of fiction and non-fiction with four books out, so far, but the secure-making recognition I hoped for proved elusive. Now after 40+ arduous years, and having been everything from a designer to a marijuana farmer, it's finally clear that the new anthology- THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY- will prove a game changer. As such, it's time for me to accept the fact that I don't need to "earn my spurs" in quite the same way.

I owe this shift to my publisher, Brenda Knight at Cleis Press, but, also, to many other people who helped me along the way. And yet, it's a paradox that the one time my name was leaked-- Google it, please, it was from someone I'd known 40 years ago, a man who penned a vicious (anonymous) attack, thinking that he was outing me, instead of bringing me the peace that arises from knowing that one took the hard road out of choice. And somehow, made it work.

I feel fortunate to have survived 43 years of hard work, including 35 years of living with HIV-- (seroconverting in 1980, 15 years before there was effective medication) and having had the chance to be of service to the LGBT community, among other circles. What we have today as an identity is far, far different from the kind of community and revolutionary zeal that I knew as a revolutionary activist in the 60s and, from the early 70s on, as a radical creative artist. But the long road does lead forward; it integrates the Past with the sense of Now; it also brings in rewards for those who walk the walk.

Many of the finest people I knew fell to AIDS or their own demons. And it's undeniable that, with age, comes a certain rue: regret at what could not be sustained; at choices which were necessary, yet difficult; the cost of survival, which so often means refusing comfort or safe harbor or compromise. Seeing Bruce Jenner last night reminded me of how Life keeps on presenting us with new obstacles but, also, new chances to fuse who we were (and how others once saw us) with who we are today. And who we are still becoming.

Announcing: THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY

My anthology on LGBT political activism dedicated to Josephine Baker and Bayard Rustin and with a Foreword by Jonathan Katz is coming in June from Cleis Press. It features 25 of the most compelling leaders, artists, and national spokespersons in the US today. Completely representative and diverse in every way, THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY covers the past 100 years of radical political activism and activists. Given the brave souls included- as contributors or as subjects, and all those who marched with us at every step of the way, the anthology, which was guided into being by publisher Brenda Knight, is a tribute to the best of the American spirit and to Human Rights. Soo... take THAT Indiana! As the slogan from the 60s goes: "The people united can never be defeated."

A wonderful chat with an old friend

Bill Arnett is the force of nature behind the discovery of the quilts of Gee's Bend and it's thanks to his championing of self-taught artists in the South that the world has become aware of Thornton Dial and others. They put the lie to a myth that African-Americans were only gifted at sports or music since their creative genius in painting and sculpture is one of the great unsung songs of 20th Century, and now 21st Century, fine art. I'm proud to know the Arnett family and glad to say that our paths have converged in the past and may do so again in the near future since I may write a book about this truly extraordinary sphere.